While there was an outpouring of sympathy for Josh Reynolds following a false positive drugs test last week, the botched roadside examination was actually a bit of a blessing in disguise for him.
The Daily Telegraph broke the story last week that the Wests Tigers five-eighth had been pulled over by the fuzz in the wee hours last Monday and he returned a positive test for cocaine and meth.
However, a second test was administered at Sutherland police station, which came back negative. He was released and further study of the second test showed the former Origin rep had been clean all along.
To be fair, it would have been some feat for him to have managed to ingest cocaine and meth, given he was driving home from Bankstown airport after the Tigers’ flight home following their Sunday night loss to the Titans in Brisbane.
“Deep down, I was very, very confident because I know I’d done nothing,” Reynolds told 2GB.
Except, um, yeah you had done something. You were driving with an expired licence.
Admittedly “NRL star fails drugs test” is a heaps sexier headline than “NRL star forgets to renew his driver’s licence”, but Reynolds broke the law. And, according to NSW Roads and Maritime Services, “There are heavy penalties for driving without a licence… It is your responsibility to renew your licence by the due date.”
Furthermore, the RMS give you a heads up if your licence is on its last legs, also saying on their website, “We’ll send you a renewal notice about six weeks before expiry. Not receiving the renewal is not an acceptable excuse for failing to renew your licence.”
As for those “heavy penalties”, a first-time offence is a fine of $549. So we’re not talking about a parking ticket here – it’s a fair whack of cash, because driving without a licence isn’t cool.
Josh Reynolds. (Matt King/Getty Images)
Obviously it’s not a patch on getting behind the wheel with coke and ice coursing through your veins, but it’s still against the law.
But since there was so much outrage over Buzz Rothfield reporting a false-positive drugs test – which was a legitimate story to put to print, even if Reynolds was always going to be found to have no case to answer – there was a convenient decision by the media to just kinda breeze past the whole ‘driving without a licence’ thing.
And as a result, the NRL Integrity Unit seem to have decided it’s not worth looking at further.
Now, I’m not saying Reynolds deserves to have been sat out for his side’s loss to the Raiders. More than a parking ticket, sure, but his offence is definitely on the low end of the severity spectrum.
But that the Integrity Unit didn’t even mention it any further isn’t really good enough. Like, you’ve got to at least say, “Our players need to be vigilant around matters on the road. As a result, Josh will be receiving [insert slap on the wrist].”
And this is particularly the case because Reynolds has been front and centre for the past six months for all the wrong reasons.
While he was ultimately found to have no criminal case to answer with regards to the fiasco that was his relationship with Arabella Del Busso, the video of him yelling at her was pretty ordinary.
“I actually struggle to watch that,” he said in his recent 60 Minutes interview. “I never want to be that person ever again.”
And while I’d be happy to leave that whole sordid saga in the past, Josh put it back on the agenda by agreeing to do the interview with the Channel Nine program. You sort of put yourself in the media’s crosshairs if you decide to do an hour-long tell-all about your failed relationship with an Instagram model just a week before you get popped for driving without a licence.
Obviously some people just have bad luck, but when you agree to put a personal relationship in the spotlight, you’ve got to expect that – certainly for the foreseeable future – the rest of your off-field activities are far more likely to be subject to added scrutiny.
And, again, Reynolds was driving without a licence. You don’t want this to be an issue, then just make sure you have a valid licence.
As I said, I don’t suppose he needed to miss a game because of this. But the fact the headline for his off-field incident was “drugs” ended up doing Josh Reynolds a massive favour.
soapit
Roar Guru
then it would have happened license or not.
Herewegoagain
Guest
No license = No insurance. End of story. His answer was irrelevant, that’s all I’m saying . Having no license doesn’t make you better at cooking biscuits. Ther ya go.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
no one is public property because they did an interview
Gerg
Roar Rookie
Onya Robbie get into him
Big Daddy
Guest
Josh, the moment he went to CH 9 or they went after him he made himself public property and the media decided any little thing he does or did was fair game. Maybe he should have left it alone.
Paul
Roar Guru
I think the only part of this piece I could agree with was the title. It really was a blessing in disguise, but I assume Reynolds has a new licence, his wallets is a tad lighter, but no harm done apart from that.
WESTS for Life
Roar Rookie
As you are the Editor of the Roar and supposedly a senior and experienced journalist , I feel what you have written is nothing more than a piece of crap. You obviously cant make up your mind whether Josh was driving on an expired licence or driving without a licence, as you mentioned both, and there is an enormous difference between them. Josh Reynolds is one of the most decent blokes you will ever meet, and busts his guts for Wests Tigers whenever he takes the field. For you to write the trash you did after he experienced the trauma he went through with a lady that needs a lot of psychological help....shows nothing more than very unfair journalism. But I suppose you are forced to toe the Foxtel/Telegraph line.
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
I personally think three games for an incorrect building permit is about right.
Nick
Roar Guru
Well said GH.
The Barry
Roar Guru
It’s correct though Renewing your license doesn’t make you a better or safer driver. As others have pointed out its to do with revenue and insurance I’m sure there’d be the usual wailing and gnashing of teeth if he was unlicensed and involved in an accident but objectively not renewing his license wouldn’t be the cause of the accident
Harry
Guest
Given the absolute chaos that's been the world in the last few months, and given that if he's been following the lockdown laws Reynolds like the rest of Australia probably hasn't been doing a whole hell of a lot of driving recently, I think we can probably give him a pass on missing a notice from the Roads Services and not realising that his licence had expired.
Herewegoagain
Guest
This bloke is very selective of who he puts the crosshairs on, and in my opinion is a practicing hippocritter.
Aiden
Guest
Nonsense. It’s an administrative fine for forgetting to pay a fee. And the penalties are not severe ... just because they say they are in their scary puff material does not make it so. Maybe the NRL integrity unit should look closely at whether players are all paying their taxes, or applying for the right permits when they add on decks? Let’s extend their remit into every area of someone’s private life. That makes sense. This is the biggest case of big whoop since Who Cares left Whoopdy Doo.
Herewegoagain
Guest
Wow ! You’ve responded to a question with a redundant statement. Pure genius.
Tom
Guest
Seems funny that Reynolds seems to have copped more attention for this than that AFL player who drunk drove and crashed into a few parked cars, whilst violating the coronavirus restrictions.
Peter Beckwith
Roar Rookie
It wouldn't be because his licence had expired.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
He would have insurance issues and be personally liable for the costs potentially. But not having a renewed licence does not make him more likely to have an accident. Unless you believe in Murphy's Law anyway.
Rob
Guest
So let me get this straight. Josh Reynolds meets a psychopath who took money from him, told him numerous times that she was pregnant when she wasn't, and accused him of physically abusing her. Reynolds then goes to 60 minutes to clear his name (as most in his position would), and because of that journos are now allowed to take any opportunity to drag his name through the mud for the slightest off field issue? Makes sense...
Herewegoagain
Guest
And if he has an accident and seriously injures someone ?
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
There is zero harm in failing to renew an expired licence. Zero. We have a driver licensing system to make sure that people are fit to drive. Given that we aren’t required to be retested on our driving ability in order to renew our licences, it is obvious that the only reason for them to have to be renewed is for revenue purposes. It would be different if Reynolds licence had been cancelled or suspended for some reason. That might suggest he was not fit to drive. But that is not the case here.